


Critical Point

by Anonymous



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Author is salty, Canon Universe, Established Relationship, Fluff with a Sad Ending, Letters, Love Letters, M/M, Not sure where this fic went but, Secret Messages, Snippets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: It began as one note in his mailbox and spiraled into a total of seven notes.At first Sakusa didn’t even want to touch the letter, running a mental list of who would be crazy enough to pull a stunt like that. But then he looked at the stack of actually important mail both under and on top of it and knew there was only one person who would dare.
Relationships: Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26
Collections: Anonymous





	Critical Point

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I'm petty and yes this is @ the person who told me I should tag “major character death” instead of “creator chose not to use archive warnings” on one of my older fics. I'm here to let you know, I'm just following Ao3 rules and please don't not leave comments on works telling creators to tag stuff because tagging is hard enough, thanks
> 
> Edit: Ao3 is telling me this is both posted AND in my drafts so *blinks slowly* idk what's going on, if this is the second time you see this, sorry I'm confused too, but do I care about visibility? No not really so...

It began as one note in his mailbox. At first Sakusa didn’t even want to touch it, running a mental list of who would be crazy enough to pull a stunt like that. But then he looked at the stack of actually important mail both under and on top it and knew there was only one blonde asshole who would dare.

Yet even as he stared down the envelope in the safety of his room, he found it strange why there was a letter in the first place. Atsumu had his phone number, unfortunately, and could easily text him. It became increasingly frustrating how a simple answer to all his worries could be found if he just flipped one flap over and took out another paper. Truly it was a simple process that could take less than a minute, but he continued to glare at the paper like it was poison.

Said envelope was the size of a standard notecard yet had no stamp, no address, and nothing but a white expanse on the front. Nothing fancy, but also not your run of the mill mail paper. It was more like the type of envelope you’d find for birthday cards, only smaller.

It wasn’t even close to his birthday so he threw that idea out the window.

And as suspicious it was, knowing it was from Atsumu, there couldn’t possibly be anything that bad in there, maybe not pleasant but not terrible. That’s as far as his trust went. So he went ahead and flipped the flap and pulled out the paper.

A short string of words were plastered on quite expensive paper, based on the smooth texture and it didn’t seem like something to waste. To his surprise, it was a handwritten note. He scanned it once, twice, three times blinking the confusion away.

> _Omi-kun, I’m sure you didn’t throw this away because you would never, right? Well the fact you’re reading this is proof and also you’ll probably end me tomorrow, but too bad I’m sending this on the weekend. Unless you come over to my apartment, there’s no way to get to me. Not that I’m stopping you from coming over like you normally do. Okay, I’m joking. You’re probably wondering why I did this when I could text you and the answer is: I want to. We could be like pen pals, isn’t that cute? You can tell me your deepest secrets here--_

Sakusa slammed the note down on the table, seething. It went on about teasing him about letters and he completely ignored it. He yanked out his phone with excessive force and shot a text to the culprit behind his rage. 

Sakusa > Go to hell, Miya.

Miya > Ooh, you got the letter? You got the letter? You got it?

Sakusa > I heard you the first time and yes I did. Fuck off.

Miya > So wanna be pen pals

[You have blocked this number]

So the first note was set aside just like that. He wasn’t expecting anymore after he shot down Atsumu’s offer. Ignoring how that disturbance got in the way of his schedule, he continued his routine and promptly went to bed, scolding himself for overthinking things once again before falling into a peaceful slumber. 

Like that, the idea left his mind.

⬫✦⬫

It wasn’t until an away game that he encountered a second note. Seeing how he expected to see them in his mailbox again, he was surprised to see one in his locker. This time, he nearly threw it out knowing it was from Atsumu. Yet against his better judgement once again, he flipped it open and rolled his eyes at the message again.

> _Fine, fine I’ll make this one shorter. We won’t be pen pals, fine, even though there is clearly something romantic about sharing handwritten letters, you’re not fun. Want to join me out later? Mini impromptu date around the city. Yes, I know you hate going around an unfamiliar place, but I promise I know my way around here. See ya. (P.S Good game )_

“Omi-kun, what’s that?”

He looked up, unamused. “Oh nothing much, just a letter from a fan apparently.” Here came the man behind the whole scene, in the form of one Miya Atsumu. He turned to the other who still was hovering around, “What do you want?”

“A fan hm?” Atsumu’s signature grin, “Was said fan wanting to hang out with you later today?”

“No clue, I didn’t read it.” He raised an eyebrow in challenge before turning to leave. After a second of thought he called out behind him, “We’re literally rooming together, ask me later.”

Atsumu chuckled behind him, jogging to catch up. “But Omi-kun, how about we talk about my first letter. Ya blocked me and I never got an explanation. What’s wrong with being pen pals? C’mon don’t ya want to write deep heartfelt confessions?”

“We’re already dating,” Sakusa deadpanned.

A pout. “Where’s the fun in that? C'mon, Omi-Omi. Just reply to my messages, I spent so much time writing them. Now that I think about it, have ya ever seen my handwriting?”

“I’ve never seen you use coherent words, so no.”

“Meanie, I think I write fairly neatly,” Atsumu grumbled, “I tried my best with them, had to rewrite one of them twice but that’s a different story. Writing in pen is hard, don’t ya know? And it’s not easy to find such pretty paper.” 

The last statement finally picked up his attention, “Since when were you a stationary collector?”

“A long time, I think they’re cute! Like a certain someone else.”

An unamused stare. Sakusa began to pick up his pace, seeing as the hotel was finally in sight and he wanted nothing more than to get inside and get some rest before he inevitably got dragged out again to tour around the city with Atsumu. It wasn’t horrible to wander around per se as Atsumu did take his comfort zone into consideration and often planned way far in advance to compensate for possible chance events which he appreciated. 

And even more so, he did enjoy Atsumu’s company. They’ve been dating for a month now and everything has been going smoothly, granted it didn’t go far but still progressing smoothly into knowing each other outside of their time together on the job.

He muttered a thanks as Atsumu rushed ahead of him at the last moment and pushed the door open for him, bowing dramatically and sweeping his hand in a welcoming motion.

“You’re so extra.”

“Ya love me.”

⬫✦⬫

Sakusa didn’t expect to receive a letter when coming back from their trip. Atsumu, despite saying he knew his way around, got them both lost and they ended up in a convenience store asking for directions. And as it was Atsumu, obviously they stopped for snacks there. Yeah, they left the shop with two bags of melon candy, what of it?

And once they got back to their hotel room, Sakusa had excused himself to clean up in the bathroom. When came out, however, it laid on his pillow with no sign of the sender around.

“Miya?” He called out to the room, despite knowing there was nowhere to even hide there. Brushing it off, he just assumed Atsumu went off to another room to hang with the rest of the team, whatever it’s not like he had anything important to do.

He flipped over the note and was pleasantly surprised to find a candy under it.

Saskusa took the candy out of its wrapper and popped it into his mouth as he took the letter out and began to read:

> _I’ll be out for a bit, don’t worry I’ll be back before you sleep, promise. Better not miss me too much now, alright? By the way, I know you’re eating that candy now and all I can say is, don’t eat them all. They’re in my bag and I’m telling you because I trust that when I come back, there’s still going to be some for me. No need to wait for me to come back, just go do whatever you were planning on doing, I know you have your schedule. See you!_

A sly grin made its way on his face as he rummaged through Atsumu’s bag and found the candy. And just out of spite, he poured the candy out of both bags, packaged them into his own suitcase and threw the evidence away. 

There was no way he could eat all that candy, but there was also no way he was letting this opportunity to annoy Atsumu go. But while closing Atsumu’s bag, his hand bumped into a side compartment and a pen fell out. “Huh?” Picking it up, it felt much heavier then it appeared, creating a decent paperweight if it wanted. And it had a rather intricate design, what seemed like vines trailing up the pen all the way to the rounded top. 

It was one of those pens that had to be twisted in the middle to write, so he did that and scribbled a quick line on a piece of paper. To his utter disappointment, nothing came out. There was an imprint of a tip on the paper but no ink.

“It’s just a stupid empty pen?”

He continued to squint suspiciously at the pen, trying yet another line before giving up and placing the pen back where he found it. Why was he so curious about it anyway? He was receiving letters and Atsumu must’ve written them somehow. It was probably the pen and he just coincidentally found it after Atsumu wrote a letter and ran out of ink.

With that conclusion, he stole another candy (guilty pleasures, they are tasty) and shifted his attention from the pen to the letter. Seeing as he now had a growing collection, he began a pile in his suitcase, slipping the third one with the second which he planned to put in a box when he got home to the first. Though there couldn’t be too much coming right? 

Even if they weren’t sending letters back and forth, he could keep them for sentimental value. There was no harm in keeping a few memories lying around

⬫✦⬫

About a month later, the two of them were in his home after a game. Or rather, he was in the bathroom shower and numbing his skin with the prickling hot heat and Atsumu was outside the door, pounding on it with his fists, though it did sound like he was close to kicking it down 

“Omi-kun, ya ought to get outta there soon or else yer gonna burn.”

“Shut up.”

More insistent knocking that he’s sure the neighbors would complain about later. “C’mon, come out. It was one game, we all make mistakes, some of us just don’t go completely batshit over it.”

“Shut the fuck up, Miya.”

“Okay I’m not calling ya crazy but I’ve been knocking on this goddamn door for like ten minutes now. Yer always like this, shuttin’ me out when yer mad and only listen to the shower. Like is a shower head that much better company?” He yanked the temperature knob so it finally turned off, breathing heavily in the remaining steam.

“At least it doesn’t _talk._ ”

A soft sigh of relief from outside the door, “Rude but alright.”

Sakusa got out, tousling his hair with a towel. He caught the mirror in his peripheral vision and turned to glare at it, storming up and gripped his hands on the counter as his reflection stared back at him. A heavy breath as he shouted back “Go away, Miya.”

Silence from the other side of the door.

The knocking was gone, but was replaced with an even worse silence. Panic rose in his chest as he got dressed and shoved open the door, realizing it was never locked in the first place. There was no one in the room. Everything was like he left it, bag thrown haphazardly over in the corner but everything else in order and folded to his liking.

“Miya? Atsumu. Did you really--”

He dashed to his front door and was greeted by a familiar envelope, taped over the peephole. It was a good sign that Atsumu wasn’t too mad, right?

Sakusa still took his time to gingerly open the envelope and take out the note, which he noticed was a little more crumpled than normal. That made his stomach drop a little but when reading, the knott began to unravel.

> _Take your time, I’ll be waiting. I just worry about you, alright? Taking such hot showers in such cold weather cannot be good for your skin nor health, right? What am I going to do if my favorite hitter is sick because of a shower? Sorry I don’t have candy for you this time (though your prank sucked, we both know it), but have this little doodle._

Under the words there was a small scribble of what appeared to be cheerful chibi Atsumu with a peace sign. Add drawing to the list of skills Sakusa had no idea the other possessed. 

It was a sweet letter that hit on every single one of his worries. Made him wonder how he got so lucky to have someone like Atsumu in his life that just understood. Maybe he couldn’t fully reciprocate that understanding, but he could savor every moment and give back in his own way. After all, relationships are a two way street.

He added this letter to the top of his pile, his current favorite.

⬫✦⬫

The fifth letter he found bookmarked in a book he was in the middle of reading. Sakusa picked up his book on the table and was about to flip to his bookmark but found another marker in there. He plucked it out and held it at arms length as if to ask “why?”

Atsumu, who happened to be visiting (definitely not by coincidence to the letter timing) broke out into a laugh like he was a kid that just slipped an Uno card into a standard deck of cards and just was caught. “Ooh, Omi-kun, nice new bookmark.”

“How the fuck did you even--”

“That’s for me to know and for ya to never find out.” Atsumu chirped, plopping himself next to the Sakusa on the couch. “Are ya gonna read it?”

“When you’re watching?”

Atsumu pouted, “What’s wrong with me watching? I wrote it with all my heart after all! I even signed it with a heart this time! Open it and you’ll see.”

“Right...”

True to his word, there was a heart on the bottom right of the page. He scanned the rest of the letter and closed it before anything showed on his face. “There, I read it, happy?” Atsumu tilted his head pointedly to imply Sakusa already knew the answer. If Atsumu wanted him to react with embarrassment, that wasn't happening today.

“Omi-kun, yer to mean to me today.”

“Just today?”

Atsumu grinned, this time a full row of teeth for display. Wrong move and he knew it. “Really now? Because I remember the day we got together, yer face was bright red. Blushy Omi is cute y’know. Ah, have we already passed the honeymoon phase? Is Omi tired of me alright? How tragic.”

“That’s not how honeymoons--”

“Oh my poor maiden heart. Whatever shall I do?” Atsumu continued to lament tragically, draping himself across the couch like he owned it. To be fair, he did visit enough and lounge on said couch plenty more times than Sakusa had ever used it.

Sakusa stood up abruptly and glared down at Atsumu from his vantage point, “Fine.”

“Yer gonna read it?”

“Only if you stop being so dramatic.” He waited for Atsumu to nod his head excitedly, and still over exaggeratedly like he always is, before he took the better back out of its home and began to read outloud monotonously:

> _What’s for dinner, Omi-kun? I’m hungry and if you’re picking up this book that means I’m not getting food in my stomach. I’ll cry. ♡_

“So? What’s for dinner?”

Sakusa threw up his arms in defeat and went over to his fridge and opened it up, only to find it completely empty. He rubbed his eyes once to check if he was actually seeing this. His typically fully stocked fridge for emergencies was empty? And he turned to Atsumu who had begun to laugh so hard he was crying tears. “Remember what ya did to my candy?”

“YOU--”

⬫✦⬫

Did he ever forgive Atsumu for that prank? Not for a long time. Even after his entire fridge contents was returned in a portable cooler, he still scolded Atsumu until he got it though that thick skull that there was to be no more funny business in his kitchen.

The next week, Atsumu invited him out for dinner, “A date night,” the blonde corrected in front of their team much to Sakusa’s dismay.

This was Atsumu’s means of mending their relationship. Because ‘food fixes everything’ is something that runs in the Miya family, no he will not elaborate. But that’s all the context needed to explain how they were in a high class restaurant on a Friday night after heading to their apartments and dressing up in formal clothes. 

“Order whatever ya want, my treat.”

“You mean your apology.”

Atsumu waved it off with a “Same difference. Tomato tomato. Potato potato. It’s not about the food anyway, it’s about spending time together!”

“Should I take that as you’re not actually sorry for ruining my kitchen? Because I can walk out of this restaurant and oh by the way I’ll take the special of the day,” Sakusa changed topics smoothly as a waiter came by to take their order.

Atsumu waved the waiter over to his side to order and Sakusa caught some whispering going between them and immediately felt the dread of something coming. 

And his suspicions came true when an envelope was slotted under his plate when his food arrived. But it wasn’t directly under the heat, rather just off to the side so the corner was just under the plate and most of the letter was off to the right side, making it easy for him to pick out and flip open, staring Atsumu right in the eyes as he asked, “What is this all leading up to?”

“Are ya suspicious of me? It’s nothing, I just think they’re cute letters.”

“You playing pranks on me and writing random nonsense on letters is what now? This is getting a tad ridiculous now isn’t it. If you’re hiding something, spill it.”

Atsumu raised his hands in mock surrender (so much for not being dramatic), “Oh no, yer exposing me? My only deepest darkest secret is that I like to send you things. But for real, Omi-kun, whatever could I be hiding something for? There’s nothing. Not everything has to have a second meaning or reason, alright?”

He still held his doubts but read the note anyway:

> _Happy three months anniversary. Don’t think you would remember the exact date we got together, but I do. It was the seventh of November. And now it’s the seventh once more. My treat, as thank you for everything._

“You planned this all? I would’ve accepted dinner if you just asked normally, you know? Didn’t have to ruin--”

Atsumu lifted his glass up, “Cheers.”

Sakusa scowled but reached up to clink their glass together, “Happy three months, I still hate you so much if you’re wondering.”

“Love ya too, Omi.”

⬫✦⬫

“I heard the doorbell the first time.”

Sakusa swung open his door to see a tightly bundled yet still shivering Atsumu. His annoyance quickly turned into concern as he ushered the blonde inside and ran inside to grab a blanket or anything to warm the other up. “It’s freezing this time of year, what were you thinking?!”

“B-but I w-wanted to...”

“Shut up, speak later,” Sakusa threw a blanket over Atsumu and went to turn on the heater and heat up some water. “You absolute fool, at least call or something. I could’ve drove over to pick you up from wherever you went instead of you walking over here.”

He whipped his head around to a tug on his sleeve. The bag Atsumu held was shoved in his face.

The seventh and final letter was delivered to him directly, alongside a box of chocolates, in the middle of February from a pair of frozen fingers. “F-for you.”

Sakusa took the bag and left it on the counter, ushering Atsumu back onto the couch where he left all the blankets. Mindlessly, he brought one blanket around Atsumu’s shoulder one after another, not really registering what his fingers were doing until he heard a muffled cry of help in the form of, “Any more and my head won’t exist.” Stepping back, he realized that was very much true. Taking into account the layers of puffy clothes Atsumu put on before arriving at his doorstep alongside the thick blankets piled on him, it was difficult to even make out the shape of a person if not for a head on the top.

“I’m warm, it’s fine. Go open yer letter!”

> _First of all, the chocolate’s the type you like, I swear I saw you looking at them through a shop window once so here you go. They’re not homemade but what did you really expect from me? Kidding, I just didn’t have time. Next year I’ll make you some, maybe._

“You don’t have to.”

Atsumu wobbled around in his cocoon in an attempt to stand but eventually gave up and just pouted from his position, “I wanna and ya can’t stop me. Anyway, where have ya been keeping my letters? I know ya keep them.”

Well he wasn’t wrong. Sakusa sent one last cursory glance at Atsumu, one to check he was fine and two to make sure he wasn’t going to find his living room in shambles when he returned, and after deciding it was safe, he went back to his room to retrieve a box. Honestly, he didn’t expect that many notes when he started putting the first one in the box, so the box he chose was fairly small and nearly full by then. 

When he came back, Atsumu was right where he left him, still wriggling around and sheepishly smiling when Sakusa returned. “Aw, you kept them in a box. That’s cute.”

“No, it’s what any rational person would do with a collection.”

“Blah blah, whatever. Omi-kun, I can’t feel my arms in here, let me go and I’ll tell ya a secret.” Atsumu wiggled himself one last time to emphasize his point before Sakusa began to unravel him. By the end there was just one layer over his shoulder and two on his lap. “This is my last letter.” 

“Why’s that?” Sakusa asked, alarmed.

“Nothing! It’s just because I’m embarrassed...plus I ran out of paper.”

Sakusa shook his head, patting Atsumu’s head in reassurance. “It’s fine. We don’t need them.”

⬫✦⬫

He breathed out a puff of warm air into the cold wind and shivered. It was winter that came with the end of the year. Despite the cold, he stood there, catching the glimmering lights of the holidays and waiting for a certain someone. But it was hours past schedule and even he was growing anxious. It wasn’t like Atsumu to be so late.

“Maybe I missed him.” Sakusa muttered after his fingers began growing numb. He opted to go back inside and check if anyone on the team had seen him.

“Have you seen Miya?”

To his surprise, the whole team was in the shared entrance area and they all turned from their circle. Everyone else seemed to be listening in around a phone. He met one pair of eyes after another, a silent agreement passed through the group and he felt like he was missing out on a giant secret. Scowling, he demanded again, “Where is he?”

Again, there was that eerie silence. Like he was talking to a wall.

“Sakusa-san, we're sorry for your lo--”

And his ears rang. The rest of the words of reassurance went over his head as he crumbled. No one dared give him a soothing hand or even stop him as he rushed back up to his room, opening and eyes darting to the empty couch. His breath was broken, he knew how bad he sounded, yet that didn’t stop him from knocking down the bathroom door and turning the shower knob to the highest setting, waiting for his hands to turn bright pink before dipping his whole self into the heat.

The steam billowed over his head and floated around him, cold in comparison to the searing heat dripping down his back. He buried his face into his hands, washing the tears that had made their home there unknowingly without a distinct emotion to pin it to. Was it sadness, grief, misery, disappointment, anger, frustration, or everything in between?

“Atsumu...”

There was nothing left of him except a few notes. Even when he left the shower and picked up the envelopes, he felt nothing. Steam radiated off his skin as his fingers graced the words, much more elegant than his other hand that held a death grip on the envelope. The paper held up under the water, as if it was made to be water resistant. 

He flipped through the first note, then the second, third, all of them. All the words he took for granted and wished for more.

But as he flipped them over, to pile them up, he saw the faintest sliver of text. Confused, he waved his hand over them and realized it was the heat from his hands. Frantically, he rushed back to the bathroom and to his shock, there were more words, on the backside that were priorly hidden.

The first one was an explanation:

> _I saw this one post that had those cute little heart things where you can fill them with little love you notes and it’s for arguments, like if couples are mad at each other, they can chuck the hearts at each other, but when they crack open, they can see how much they really love each other!_
> 
> _This is my version of it because you would never let me write you cute messages, would you? So I thought long and hard about this. I know when you are frustrated or confused, you drown yourself in a scalding hot shower. So when you’re mad at me, which I’m guessing is going to be often, you’ll get all these cute messages._

It was incredibly sappy and was such an Atsumu idea. “But it’s supposed to go both ways,” he scolded the air. All the time they’ve been together, pre and post relationship, he’s never been outrageously mad at Atsumu. Sure they had their argument here and there, but they worked it out.

He flipped to the second note:

> _I love your smile, not your smirk even though that has its own perks, I mean your soft smile that you rarely show. The first time you showed me that smile was after a game and I felt like we were the only one in that room right then and there._

Third note:

> _I‘ve loved you since the day we met. To be honest, I fell in love because I was curious about you, always on the side, yet you were in the center of my view. You’re like the sun to me. I know it doesn’t make much sense but trust me, you are my light. Sometimes I wonder if I flew too close to the sun because I fall for you all the time._

“I never realized all this. I didn’t realize you thought so much ahead. I didn’t realize anything was going wrong...”

> _Okay, but I love when we just walk together. You always seem deep in thought but I find you always listening to me and I find that cute. I don’t think you realize, but sometimes you see something shiny in a shop window and your eyes turn to look a little longer than normal. But it’s not what’s inside the window, it's just the lights so I’ve hypothesized._

His grip loosened at that. He didn’t realize it himself, but Atsumu had. From there on, he began going through the notes like he was a child that was left unattended with a box of chocolates. Hungrily, trying to hold onto any last strands.

> _I’m so incredibly soft for you it’s unfair how flustered you make me. You should be illegal. But illegally mine. You are mine and that still feels like a dream to me. I don’t know why you accepted my confession but that day, I finally felt like I found the part of me that was missing all these years. It sounds dumb writing it out, but I think we were made to fit._

“You dumbass, we are dating.”

> _I love when your eyes shine with determination. When you want something, you do anything to get it. I’m glad we have that in common. I wanted you and my only wish is that you wanted me back. These are so sappy oh my god if you actually hate me and read these when you’re mad, what am I going to do?? Help??_

And the final letter:

> _Seven is my favorite number so this is the last one._ _I could go on for hours telling you what I love about you. And I hope I did tell you all these things so I don’t have to write them here. In reality, it’s everything. There’s nothing flawed with you in my eyes. Well, this is my final love letter to you (aren’t they romantic?) I love you Kiyoomi <3 _

Setting down the letters, he let out a heavy breath, nose still slightly stuffy as he placed the letters back into their respective envelopes, steadying himself with a hand on the counter. Another deep breath in and out as he closed his eyes right in front of the mirror.

“Come back, Atsumu.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t plan on writing for SakuAtsu past this point, but this was a cool short story I guess. I just wanted to write a short piece so this isn't my best work tbh.
> 
> I know the heart post is on the internet somewhere, I swear I saw it before but I cannot for the love of me find it, sorry. This fic took a full 180 degrees with only the steam messages staying the same from the original idea which was: Atsumu writes anon love letters to Sakusa even tho it’s painfully obvious but then changed them to established for plot understanding reasons...
> 
> I honestly dunno what I was trying to do with the ending (Update: changed the end a little, ahaha if you know you know) ...but lmk whatcha think?


End file.
